The article “Maryland: A lonely state for Republicans” (Web, Thursday) gives  a distorted picture that reminds me of the Mark Twain quote “The reports of my  death are greatly exaggerated.” There is no question that the electoral results  did not turn out in our favor, as we lost my race for the U.S.  Senate and a hotly contested race in Congressional District 6. To argue over  this would be foolhardy. Context matters, however, and the article leaves out  vital information regarding my race in which Maryland Republicans can take  solace.

We did garner 27 percent of the vote, but our contest was a three-way race in  which we were outspent nearly 10-1 in media purchases. In addition, I was the  only candidate forced to defend my positions from two sides of the political  battlefront, which is a rare post-primary phenomenon. The independent candidate  spent millions of dollars disingenuously attacking me from the right as I  simultaneously battled Democratic Sen.  Benjamin L. Cardin, a skilled incumbent, on his left-of-center ideological  positions. I am proud that we managed to hold onto nearly 30 percent of the  electorate under this multidirectional, well-funded political assault.

Comparing apples to apples, Maine’s 2012 Senate  race had a similar three-way dynamic in which the Democratic nominee, Cynthia  Dill, received less than 14 percent of the vote despite Maine being  consistently ranked as one of the least conservative states in the country. Yet  to date, no one is writing the obituary for Maine’s Democratic Party.

More.